Abstrakt
Beginning with some of the earliest printed editions, the process of editing and correcting Hebrew books became - not infrequently - the subject of various notes by Jewish editors and correctors. They appeared in the editions of those Hebrew texts that aspired to higher religious or cultural status; sometimes - especially towards the end of the 16th century - they can also be found in a broader spectrum of editions, often produced by one-time editors.
This chapter focuses on the printed production of books in Hebrew script and language, in the period from the dawn of Hebrew printing in the 1460s until the 1620s. It will tackle in particular the books produced with Jewish participation (even if they often were made for Christian publishers) and intended for a readership that included, but was not limited to, Jewish readers.
The books aimed primarily for the use of Christian Hebraists, such as Hebrew-Latin editions of Biblical texts from Paris, Leiden and Antwerp, are left aside. In the absence of relevant archival sources, some preliminary insights into the practice of correcting Hebrew printed books will be offered relying on the paratextual evidence, i.e. on the notes by editors and correctors, featured in the same books which they helped to produce.